Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Although artist Moisio Walfred died in 2001, his work has stood the test of time. Known for photographing cultural events of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s this photograph is no exception. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has been an American tradition for decades and this 1930s photgraph captures the spirit and emotions of this special day.The photograph will be auctioned on December 3, 2009. Details below. Artist: Moisio WalfredBio: View biography on artnetTitle: Macy's Thanksgiving Day ParadeStyle: Contemporary (ca. 1945-present)Medium: Photographs, Silver printYear: ie. circa 1930Size: height - 11 in, width - 14 in, depth - 0 inMarkings: stamped, on verso, 2005 #3 edition of 6. Image printed from original negative.Estimate: from $900 to $1,200BID HERE-AUCTION WILL BE HELD ON DECEMBER 3, 2009 AT 1:00 P.M.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

When you are operating a small art gallery or a small museum it is difficult to get the public's attention. Below are two worthy events taking place over the next two days in Louisville. Both events are free and open to the public.

THURSDAY, NOV. 19, 2009

Lincoln: Presidency in Pictures

Get a good look at these historic images and then prepare to bid. Starting on Dec. 6 a duplicate of one of the works from the exhibit will be auctioned off in a silent auction.

Waller is a local artist working in southern Indiana. While the official subject of many of the works are the leaves she depicts, the real subject matter is the way that light penetrates and changes the surface of every object it touches. Even the nudes appear to glow from within.

The opening will be Friday, November 20 from 6pm-8pm. If you work downtown stop by after work for free wine and cheese...who knows, you might just go home with something.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

There has been some confusion about the art market. Is it up or is it down? The answer is it is up from a recent low point in the Fall of 2008 but it is still down from a high point in May of 2008. Overall, the market has been down since its highest point. However, the Fall of 2009 has brought some reason to celebrate.

September 15, 2008 was the day Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and the day the western markets began to plummet in earnest. That date is also a good marker for the day the art market began to change course. Although Christie's had a record sale of $362 million just four months before, the Fall of 2008 could only be described as dismal. Potential sellers that were able to hold onto their works did so.

But if Fall 2008 made art lovers think the market was doomed, then the Fall of 2009 should give them hope. On November 11, 2009 Sotheby's sold 52 of 54 lots which brought in $134,438,000 plus premium. The most exciting lot of the evening was Andy Warhol's200 One Dollar Bills from 1962. That lot opened at $6 million and then jumped by $1 million bids until the hammer came down at $39 million ($43,762,500 with premium). Although pre-sale skeptics predicted the Warhol lot would 'make the sale' it was, in fact, not the only exciting lot. Alice Neel's work, Jackie Curtis and Rita Red helped set a new auction record high for the artist by selling for $1,650,500. Other new auction records set at that sale including Jean Dubuffet's Trinite-Champs-Elysees, 1961 ($6,130,500); Germaine Richier's , La Feuille bronze, 1948 ($842,500); and Juan Munoz's, Five Seated Figures, 1996 ($1,202,500).

This is not to say the the auction market has rebounded in full. While sales exceeding $134 million proves that the art market is moving up (Sotheby's May 2009 sale totaled just $125 million), it certainly does not come close to the high point in the market and estimates are still conservative. It is also important to note that there have been some disappointments in recent days as well. Just two days before the Sotheby's sale was Christie's Contemporary Art Sale on November 10. Connecticut horse farmer Peter Brant's painting entitled Brother Sausage (estimated $9,000,000-$12,000,000) by Jean-Michel Basquiat and his prized Andy Warhol painting entitled Tunafish Disaster (estimated $6,000,000-$8,000,000) both went unsold. Many in the artworld felt that Brant's desired price was too high while arnet.com said "Cynics may view the buy-ins differently, however, as a gambit to establish lower values for works that may become subject to a property settlement in a future divorce."

Phillips de Pury & Company Art Evening sale on November 12 was also successful selling 31 of the 40 lots offered for a total $7,099,250, within its pre-sale estimate of $5.7–8.1 million. With only five lots exceeding the $500,000 mark and not a single lot reaching $1 million, the overall result was a welcome figure. Just a year before Phillips de Pury had an unsold rate of 46 percent by lot and 51 percent by value.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Yin and Yang (1992-2002), Robert Arneson, Bronze with white patina, edition 2/3, The blogger's husband posing with the statue. The artist had a keen sense of humor and probably would have like the correlation between the real and the fake heads.

Robert Arneson was born in Benicia California in 1930. After a stint teaching in a California highschool, he became interested in ceramics. In 1958 Arneson received an MFA from Mills College and in 1962 he became a professor at the University of California Davis.

Looking at Arneson's work today one might suspect the artist had a keen sense of humor. What one might not suspect is that the way he used ceramics was, for the time, ground-breaking. Until that time, most ceramics artists created pieces which were purely functional (think teapots, bowls, and tiles). Arneson broke away from that tradition and started creating non-utilitarian pieces. Soon, he became associated with a group of California "Pop" artists who created what was known as "Funk art".

Arneson also became known for creating a series of self-portraits in a wide variety of mediums. Each work depicted the artist with a different identity. In this way, he associated himself with larger issues such as suffereing, life, and death. This is not to suggest that the artist was not controversial. Arneson created many works which challenged authority, poked fun at public figures, and questioned the art world itself.

Robert Arneson, Portrait of George (Moscone), 1981 (7'-10" x 29")

The most famous of these works is a depiction of the San Francisco mayor George Moscone. Arneson was commissioned to create the sculpture in 1981 for the Moscone Convention Center just a few short years after the popular politician's 1978 assassination. When the bust was revealed, much of the public was shocked by the five bloody bullet holes on the pedestal, the words "bang, bang, bang" and "Harvey Milk Too!" Eventually, the Arts Council decided not to use the bust and a private collector purchased it.

The Egghead series (photo at top of page) were among some of the artist's last works before he died. They were originally commissioned for the UC Davis campus. Today the Eggheads are an important part of life on the campus. In fact, the artist specifically requested that the University never limit or inhibit the student's playful interaction with his sculptures. Because the estate of the artist owns the originals, 'editions' of the same works can be seen in other public locations. Recently, when I was in San Francisco, I saw Yin and Yang on the Embarcadero. Pictured above with my husband posing next to them, these pieces are bronze with a white patina are number 2 in an edition of 3.

Today, Robert Arneson's pieces continually sell privately and at auction. Some recent auction figures can be found below. The pieces that demand the most money are those that are more representative of the artist's point of view. Generally, this means they are political or funny. The first piece listed below was completed in a more traditional style and sold for just $3,585. The other pieces have sold or are estimated to sell for higher values because they better represent what collectors are looking for when buying an Arneson piece.

ABOUT THE APPRAISER

Christian Trabue is an art, antiques, and collectibles appraiser and a member of the Appraisers Association of America. She lives and works in Kentucky but completes appraisals in other parts of the country as well. Ms. Trabue completed her undergraduate degree in art history at Centre College, attended the University of Louisville for her graduate work in art history and, received a certificate in Personal Property Appraisal from New York University. She is a member of the Appraisers Association of America (AAA) and has taken and passed the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). In January of 2009 she joined Enservio Select as a fine art and antiques appraiser.